Tag Archives: Josh Hawley

Lookin’ Good, Merrick Garland!

Posted on by under Biden's Staff Picks, Law and justice, Political commentary

Merrick-GarlandYesterday was the first of the two-day confirmation hearings for Merrick Garland, President Biden’s choice to head the Department of Justice.  I have felt for weeks that Garland would be confirmed by the Senate, for he is both liked and respected by those on both sides of the aisle.  According to an article in The Washington Post …

“… there was little acrimony and many Democrats and Republicans on the panel appeared to treat his confirmation almost as a foregone conclusion.”

Several Republicans seem certain that Garland will be confirmed …

“I believe so. There were people that weren’t totally satisfied with his answers, but i didn’t hear anybody get really irritated. … For the most part, he answered pretty well.” – Senator Chuck Grassley (republican) from Iowa

“That certainly seems likely. I thought he did fine. It was frustrating in that he answered very few questions. He approached it more like a judicial nominee dodging every question.” – Senator Ted Cruz (republican) from Texas

“Judge Garland is about as sure a bet as you can have in the Congress these days that he will be confirmed. He has navigated these questions with extraordinary adroitness and aplomb.” – Senator Richard Blumenthal (democrat) from Connecticut

To be sure, there were contentious lines of questioning, especially from the likes of Senator John Neeley Kennedy, a republican from Louisiana, and the ignoble Josh Hawley who cheered the attackers on January 6th, and did everything in his power to try to overturn our votes on that day.  But, Garland remained cool and his answers brought no rebuttal.  For example, Hawley arrogantly twirled his pencil while attempting to goad Garland into a conversation on defunding the police, and on what constitutes ‘domestic terrorism’.

Garland, who prosecuted the Oklahoma City bombing perpetrators before becoming a federal judge,  looked Hawley straight in the eye and responded …

“As you no doubt know, President Biden has said he does not support defunding the police, and neither do I. We saw how difficult the lives of police officers were in the body-cam videos we saw when they were defending the Capitol.  The use of violence or threats of violence in an attempt to disrupt democratic processes.  So an attack on a courthouse while in operation trying to prevent judges from deciding cases, that plainly is domestic extremism, domestic terrorism.”

Lindsey Graham, who would not allow Garland’s hearing to take place earlier this month, reared his typically ugly head, quizzed Garland on whether he thought James Comey, who was fired by the former guy early in his administration, was a good FBI Director.  Garland calmly replied that the question was not useful and that he didn’t intend to get into critiquing other directors.  Then Graham responded churlishly with …

“Well, you’ve been very political, and appropriately so, at times. I just find it pretty stunning that you can’t say, in my view, that he was a terrible FBI director.”

However, at the end of the day, Lindsey told Garland, “I think you’re a very good pick for this job.”  Even Senator Kennedy, one of the more obnoxious among republican senators, said “You’ll be a good attorney general.”

Perhaps Garland’s most powerful statement, at least in my eyes, was when he said …

“I am not the president’s lawyer, I am the United States’ lawyer.”

Quite the contrast from previous Attorney General William Barr who saw himself and the entire Department of Justice as tools at the former guy’s disposal.

No doubt there will be some Republicans who will oppose the nomination, likely Tom Cotton, Mike Lee, and Josh Hawley among them, but the general consensus is that Garland will win senate confirmation when the vote is taken on March 1st.  Score one for justice.

The Price For Perfidy

Posted on by under Bits 'n Pieces, Election 2020, Political commentary, Social commentary

Actions have consequences, and there is a price to pay for lying and cheating.  Some members of the Republican Party are learning that lesson the hard way.

According to an article in The Washington Post …

The 147 Republican lawmakers who opposed certification of the presidential election this month have lost the support of many of their largest corporate backers — but not all of them.

The Washington Post contacted the 30 companies that gave the most money to election-objecting lawmakers’ campaigns through political action committees. Two-thirds, or 20 of the firms, said they have pledged to suspend some or all payments from their PACs.

Meanwhile, 10 companies said only that they would review their political giving or did not commit to take any action as a result of this month’s events.

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The split between company responses shows how U.S. executives are still grappling with the recent political bloodshed and its ripple effects across the corporate landscape. The attempted insurrection at the Capitol on Jan. 6 led to calls for companies and wealthy donors to disavow support for lawmakers who continue to propagate dangerous myths about the election and has prompted a broader rethinking of the role of PAC giving among the nation’s top companies.

And remember ol’ Josh Hawley who attempted to overturn the election and even egged on the terrorists who invaded the Capitol with murder on their minds?

hawley

It seems that Hawley had a big fund-raiser planned for the weekend of February 12-15.  The event was to be held at the Loews Portofino Bay Hotel in Orlando, Florida, and was billed as a “fun-filled, family-friendly Orlando weekend event”.  Tickets were being sold for between $1,000 to $5,000, depending on the size of the group.

But Loews said that the fund-raiser had been called off after the deadly riot at the Capitol, which many Democrats and Republicans have blamed in part on Mr. Hawley and other members of his party who supported Trump’s efforts to stop the certification of Joe Biden’s victory.

“We are horrified and opposed to the events at the Capitol and all who supported and incited the actions. In light of those events and for the safety of our guests and team members, we have informed the host of the Feb. fund-raiser that it will no longer be held at Loews Hotels.”

But that wasn’t the only blow Mr. Hawley suffered as a result of his actions.  Apparently he has written a book titled, “The Tyranny of Big Tech” that was scheduled to be published by Simon & Schuster in June.  Simon & Schuster have now canceled the publication, saying …

“We did not come to this decision lightly. As a publisher it will always be our mission to amplify a variety of voices and viewpoints: At the same time we take seriously our larger public responsibility as citizens, and cannot support Senator Hawley after his role in what became a dangerous threat.”

Hawley responded by calling the decision ‘Orwellian’ and threatening a lawsuit.

So yes, consequences do have actions even for people in high-ranking government positions.  I applaud those companies that have the fortitude to do the right thing, to hold these ignoble members of Congress to account for their actions, and I hope more will do the same.  We need to take a closer look at the companies with whom we do business, find out who they give their money to, and boycott those who put profit so far ahead of people that they are endangering the nation.

Just one other thing …

My jaw dropped all the way to the floor this morning when I read something that Senator Mitch McConnell said …

“The mob was fed lies. They were provoked by the president and other powerful people. And they tried to use fear and violence to stop a specific proceeding of the first branch of the federal government which they did not like.”

ryan-mcconnellIs this the same Mitch McConnell who has been licking Trump’s boots for the last four years?  The same Mitch McConnell who opposed President Obama at almost every turn, including his Supreme Court nomination?  Okay … where is the real Mitch McConnell???  Think … Invasion of the Body Snatchers … or perhaps he’s had a lobotomy?  Or somebody else lent him their conscience for a brief period?

I guess that since Trump now has less than 24 hours in office, McConnell isn’t afraid of the repercussions any longer.  Mitch McConnell, even though he will no longer be the Senate Majority Leader, has quite a bit of influence over the other Senate Republicans, so my hope is that his words, his views, will translate into a conviction in the impeachment trial.

And some have asked me, “why bother?” with the impeachment trial, since Trump will be out of office in 21 hours anyway.  Well, the primary reason for the ‘bother’ is that if Trump is convicted on the impeachment charge, he will never again be able to hold public office.  No run for president in 2024.  This is important, for he damn near destroyed this country over the last four years and we cannot have another four years of him … ever!

Snarky Snippets Is Baaaaaaack …

Posted on by under Bits 'n Pieces, Election 2020, Environmental Issues, Law and justice, Political commentary, Racism & Bigotry, Social commentary

I tried to do something humorous for this morning’s post, for my last several posts have been either rants or introspective critiques and I thought it was time to ‘lighten up’.  However, try as I might, it just didn’t work.  But I had no trouble whatsoever finding my inner snarky self … that is, apparently, the real me!

Censure???

The late Senator John McCain’s wife, Cindy McCain, has been ‘censured’ by the Maricopa County (Arizona) Republican Committee.  Why?  Because of her support for “leftist causes” like gay marriage, larger government and “others that run counter to Republican values.”  And also because she “failed” to support conservative candidates and has “supported globalist policies and candidates,” including Democrats such as President-elect Joe Biden.

Incredible, is it not?  I wasn’t quite sure what, in a case like this where the person being ‘censured’ holds no political office, what it even means to be censured.  Turns out, it means pretty much nothing.  According to Wikipedia …

“Censure is a formal, and public, group condemnation of an individual, often a group member, whose actions run counter to the group’s acceptable standards for individual behavior. … Like a reprimand, a censure does not remove a member from their office so they retain their title, stature, and power to vote.”

In response to the censure, Ms. McCain said on Twitter “I am a proud lifelong Republican and will continue to support candidates who put country over party and stand for the rule of law.”  Like her husband, Ms. McCain is a person of character … much more so than the buffoons who decided to censure her.  This is yet another example of the bigotry that has become the foundation of the Republican Party in the 21st century.

‘Patriot’???

More times than I can count in the past few days, I have heard the domestic terrorists who attacked the Capitol on Wednesday referred to as “patriots”.  Hearing this is like hearing fingernails running across a chalkboard … it sets my teeth on edge.

NOBODY who harms others and attempts to undermine or overthrow their own government can possibly be called a patriot.  Period.  A patriot is somebody who cares enough about their country to defend it against enemies, not someone who blatantly attempts to destroy their country from within!

John McCain was a patriot, President Barack Obama is a patriot, Senator Bobby Kennedy was a patriot, as were Martin Luther King and the late Representative John Lewis.  These thugs …

jerks-1jerks-2jerks-3jerks-4

… are not patriots, they are homegrown, domestic terrorists.  They are racists and homophobes.  They are fools, idiots and buffoons.  They are ignorant rednecks … but they are the furthest thing from a ‘patriot’.

Rather than defend their country, what they did, and what they are still planning to do, is to take away the will of the majority of people in this nation and impose their own brand of anarchy based on bigotry, based on racism and hatred.  No, folks, these are insurgents, they are domestic terrorists, every bit as dangerous as members of al Qaeda, and even less intelligent.  Do not make them heroes … call them what they are … the enemies of the United States.

Idiocy has a price …

In January 2019, Senator Josh Hawley, then 39 years old, took his seat in Congress for the first time as the Senator from Missouri.  It was likely the first and last time.  Hawley wanted to be the maverick, the one who gave voice to Trump’s false claims that the 2020 election was somehow ‘stolen’ from him, was ‘rigged’, and so Hawley made great show of announcing that he would object to the electoral votes last Wednesday when Congress met to formally certify the electoral votes that declared Joe Biden the next president of the United States.

Yep, ol’ Josh was pretty proud of his sycophancy, pleased to be standing up for the voice of the electoral loser, thought he might even overturn the voice of the people.  And when terrorists gathered outside the Capitol building on Wednesday morning, Josh wasn’t concerned, in fact he waved and smiled, even gave them what I’ve come to think of as the Trumpian equivalent of the Nazi salute …

hawley

And then the shit hit the fan.  Those terrorists Josh thought he was bonding with stormed the Capitol building, disrupted the proceedings, caused hundreds of thousands of dollars in damage, and left 5 people dead.  And Hawley became an overnight pariah.  Former Republican Senator John Danforth, Hawley’s political mentor and a fellow Yale Law School graduate, stated that supporting Hawley in his Senate bid and his prior state attorney general role was the “worst mistake I ever made in my life”.

David Humphreys, who with his mother and sister donated more than $6 million to Hawley’s campaigns, called for Hawley to be censured, having “revealed himself as a political opportunist willing to subvert the Constitution and the ideals of the nation he swore to uphold.”  Hawley has since faced bipartisan calls for his resignation, to which he has responded that he “will never apologize”.  But in all likelihood, his political career is as dead as the fish we had for dinner last night.

Apparently ol’ Josh had written a book … “The Tyranny of Big Tech” … that was scheduled to be published in June by Simon & Schuster.  That has since been canceled, according to Simon & Schuster …

“We did not come to this decision lightly.  As a publisher it will always be our mission to amplify a variety of voices and viewpoints: At the same time we take seriously our larger public responsibility as citizens, and cannot support Senator Hawley after his role in what became a dangerous threat.”

Fortunately for him, Hawley’s net worth is estimated at $1.1 million, so he won’t have to worry about finding a job as a dishwasher or truck driver anytime soon.

Wiser Words Than Mine

Posted on by under Election 2020, History, Law and justice, Political commentary, Racism & Bigotry, Social commentary

I find myself tonight in a strange place, a place where I can find no words.  I have much I would like to say, but I cannot get the words to move from my brain to my fingers.  My head and heart are still reeling from the dark chasm into which I was forced to look on Wednesday, and when I try to write my thoughts, no words will come.

Fortunately, not everyone has been struck silent in the wake of Wednesday’s terrible tragedy, and New York Times columnist David Brooks has written my post for me tonight, far better than I could have done even were I at my best.

This Is When the Fever Breaks

Wednesday was a moral exposure, and a turning point.

david-brooks-thumbLarge-v2By David Brooks

Opinion Columnist

Awe and reverence. I remember the first time I entered the U.S. Capitol. I was 14 or so. I came down from Pennsylvania by train, and I was overwhelmed by the glory of the place. This was where Lincoln and Henry Clay had worked. This was where the 13th Amendment was passed, the Land Grant College Act, the New Deal, the Civil Rights Act. It was such a beautiful building, I was stunned.

I got inside, found the tunnels and explored the complex. I figured if I walked really fast, people would think I belonged there, so I trucked along as fast as my little legs would carry me — heart racing and imagination aflame.

It’s decades later. I live a few blocks from the building now and have been inside thousands of times. The awe and reverence have never diminished an iota.

The people who work there have their human frailties, but at moments of great crisis, like 9/11 or Wednesday’s mob rampage, most of them show a devotion to our common enterprise that makes me cry with admiration.

Senator Sherrod Brown of Ohio once took me on the Senate floor and showed me how generations of senators had carved their names in the drawers of the desks — ancient hands with their penknives scratching away in the wood, a centuries-long parade of lives dedicated in their imperfect ways to our country.

That is why the Capitol, not the White House, is the altar of our democracy, the sacred gathering spot of those who served, strove and died building this nation.

One day in 2013 a freshman senator named Ted Cruz shut down the government. He was months into his first term, a time when his eyes should have been wide with wonder and his heart full of humility. Instead, he co-opted the Senate, with no realistic prospect of serving any cause, but simply for the purpose of making Ted Cruz famous. He gave a 21-hour filibuster speech on the Senate floor that riveted right-wing media for a news cycle.

I was in the Senate Dining Room shortly afterward when he walked in. The emotional temperature plummeted. Everybody, of both parties, despised Cruz for putting himself above the Senate, for his own arrogance and narcissism.

But it worked. Cruz became a prominent G.O.P. figure, a fund-raising machine. The model of being a Republican lawmaker changed. It was no longer somebody who passes legislation; it was someone who pulls a publicity stunt that owns the libs. Millions of Americans felt scorned by a cultural and media elite. They were willing to follow anybody who could make himself despised by the people they felt despised them.

Donald Trump came in the wake of that. And then, this week, Josh Hawley. As of Wednesday morning, Hawley was the model of what a Republican senator was going to look like in the post-Trump era. He cannily understood what the party faithful wanted. Publicity stunts. Owning the libs.

But there are dark specters running through our nation — beasts with shaggy manes and feral teeth. They have the stench of Know-Nothingism, the hot blood of the lynchers, and they ride the winds of nihilistic fury.

Read the history books. They have always been lurking in the shadows of our nation’s greatness. Hawley didn’t just own the libs, he gave permission to dark forces he is too childish, privileged and self-absorbed to understand. Hawley sold his soul to all that is ugly for the sake of his own personal celebrity.

Human beings exist at moral dimensions both too lofty and more savage than the contemporary American mind normally considers. The mob that invaded that building Wednesday exposed the abyss. This week wasn’t just an atrocity, it was a glimpse into an atavistic nativism that always threatens to grip the American soul. And it wasn’t just the mob that exposed this. The rampage reminded us that if Black people had done this, the hallways would be red with their blood.

We are a flawed and humiliated nation, but when well led, we can be more self-sacrificial than we have any right to expect. I despised the sight of the Confederate flags being paraded through Capitol halls, but I loved everything Mitt Romney said and did on Wednesday. Romney showed what moral leadership looks like, and how just a few voices can shift a herd.

Leadership matters. Character matters. The thousands of people who work in the Capitol complex were chased from their chambers or barricaded in their offices by the furies that are ravaging this nation. The shock of this atrocity is bound to have a sobering effect.

I’m among those who think this is an inflection point, a step back from madness. We’re a divided nation, but we don’t need to be a nation engulfed in lies, lawlessness and demagogic incitement.

We look to you, our 535 representatives, to simply do the people’s business, to cut deals so people can stock their pantries and school their kids, and so that a 14-year-old, or a 59-year-old, can enter your building with eyes of wonder, awe and devotion.

Who’s Surprised?

Posted on by under Election 2020, Global Issues, Law and justice, Political commentary, Rants, Re-blogs, Social commentary

Jeff is as angry as I am tonight … he and I, along with many others have predicted this for some time. It was right in front of our eyes, but apparently the media, Congress, and others couldn’t see it. Remember, my friends, the lunatic who created today’s madness also has access to the nuclear codes …

On The Fence Voters

None of what’s happening at the U.S Capitol today should surprise any of us. At least not those who’ve actually been warning what might happen were the Mad King to lose the election. Now we’re seeing in real time the disintegration of democracy playing out on our television screens for all of the world to see.

The crazies are making their last stand, at the behest of their dear leader. He’s been egging them on for months now; told them to “stand down and standby.” They all knew what he meant. They’ve been plotting this insurrection ever since. The real question right now is, how in the hell was this allowed to happen? How could there not have been National Guard stationed and surrounding the Capitol, days before in anticipation of today’s certification proceedings?

People will have to be held to account and I don’t just mean those in law…

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The Sedition Continues

Posted on by under Election 2020, Law and justice, Political commentary, Racism & Bigotry, Social commentary

Never in my wildest imaginings could I have thought how terribly inhumane, corrupt, and unconscionable an entire half of the United States, including the entirety of the Republican Party, could become. I am sickened and disgusted by every single Republican in Congress today, and also by the 74 million people who apparently would prefer to chant “Heil Trump” than to have a real president. Jeff tells of some of the absolute inanity the “GOP” is attempting to take away the right to vote and have our vote tallied. He, like myself, is sick and damn tired of all the shenanigans. Thanks, Jeff, for this heartfelt post … I share your every thought on this.

On The Fence Voters

So another 11 senators signed on to the ridiculous challenge of what used to be a mere formality counting of certified state elector ballots on January 5, joining seditious and treason-like Senator Josh Hawley from Missouri.

Of course, this buffoonery follows on the heels of the idiotic Supreme Court challenge signed by 126 Republican House members that were utterly and swiftly dismissed a few weeks ago. You can now increase that list of treacherous scoundrels to 140, as that’s how many who are now saying they’ll also challenge the certification process.

Oh, and we might as well mention imbecilic Rep. Louis Gohmert’s lawsuit against Mike Pence, trying to force him into accepting other illegitimate elector’s ballots from rogue radicals in some of the swing states like Pennsylvania and Arizona. That one didn’t go anywhere either.

Once again, in the United States of America, we have a group of Republican lawmakers…

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Time For The Silent Majority To Speak — LOUDLY

Posted on by under Election 2020, Environmental Issues, Law and justice, Political commentary, Rants, Social commentary

This morning it was announced that Senator Josh Hawley from Missouri will contest the votes of the Electoral College when the U.S. Congress meets on January 6th to certify those votes.  I am outraged.  How can a ‘man’ who took an oath to protect and uphold the U.S. Constitution attempt to deny the people of this nation the right to choose their president?  The following is the email I sent to Mr. Hawley early this afternoon …

You, Mr. Hawley, are in breach of your oath to protect and uphold the U.S. Constitution.  WE THE PEOPLE have spoken.  We voted, fairly and honestly, for our next president to be President-elect Joe Biden.  We are sick and damn tired of the buffoon who has occupied the Oval Office for the past four years and we need a government that functions, a president who cares about the nation and its people, not about his own personal whims.  For you to contest our votes, to take away our right to choose our leader, is simply unconscionable.  You better think long and hard about what you’re doing, for you will face the consequences of your actions.  At noon on January 20th, Joe Biden WILL become the next president of the United States, else there will no longer BE a United States.

Hawley’s reasoning, or so he claims, is that “some states, particularly Pennsylvania, failed to follow their own state election laws.”  What he refers to are the accommodations, such as postal voting, that were made by the states in order to enable more people to vote in light of the pandemic, a scourge made far worse than it needed to be by the very lying, bungling person Hawley and others are attempting to keep in the highest office of the land.  There was no criminal activity, no voter fraud, just people voting from the safety of their home rather than being exposed to a deadly virus while standing in line at the polls for hours.

What Mr. Hawley is doing, as well as what Representatives Mo Brooks and Louie Gohmert are doing in their efforts to silence the will of the people, is not only unconscionable, but is against the Constitution, is against the law of the land.  I believe with 99% certainty that their efforts will fail, but the efforts themselves are criminal, are acts of sedition.  Not only that, but they are keeping us all on pins and needles, keeping us from being able to enjoy this holiday season, costing us sleep and our health, just so they can play these foolish games with our lives!

Our friend Keith wrote an excellent letter to several newspapers regarding ‘Representatives’ Brooks and Gohmert’s efforts to change the outcome, to rob us of our voices. Keith has kindly given us permission to alter as needed and use his letter … I strongly suggest we all take him up on that offer, for if enough of us make ourselves heard, make it clear that we will not stand for this circus the GOP is putting on, perhaps others will follow suit.  These people do not deserve their seats in Congress, for they do not represent the people of this nation, they only pander to the whims of the madman who has destroyed much of what was once good about this country.

The United States was founded on the notion of “government of the people, by the people, for the people”, as President Abraham Lincoln so famously noted in his Gettysburg Address on November 19, 1863.  Hawley, Gohmert, Brooks and others are attempting to take “the people” out of that equation. It is time for We the People to rise up, to make our voices heard so loudly and clearly that we override those of the fools in Washington who are lining their own pockets while draining ours.

If It Worked For Trump …

Posted on by under Election 2018, Political commentary

So many of us have high hopes for the mid-term elections in November.  The republican candidates, democrats say, are running scared of that big “blue wave” — the vast majority of voters who will vote the democratic ticket simply because Trump has been such an abomination, a failed experiment.  And it may well be that the GOP is running … well, if not exactly ‘scared’, at least nervous.  And so … they have developed a strategy:  emulate Trump.  If it worked for Donald Trump in 2016, it can, they believe, work for them in 2018.  What they fail to consider is that in more than a year of Trump, many of us have soured on him, seen him for the brash, crass monster he really is, and we will do everything in our power to ensure there are no more like him.  But, am I right? 🤔

Mike Braun, the Indiana candidate for U.S. Senate, is parroting Trump’s rhetoric, speaking of ‘draining the swamp, disparaging the Mueller investigation, and even calling for those tired old chants of “Lock her up!”  Sheesh … when will they realize that Hillary Clinton poses no threat and leave her alone? Indiana, in fact, appears to have three locos running for the senate seat, and the other two are just as bad as Braun.  Todd Rokita proudly slaps on a red “Make America Great Again” cap in a new ad as he promises to “proudly stand with our president and Mike Pence to drain the swamp.” Oh, puh-leeeze.  And in the spirit of Trump, the third candidate, Luke Messer, refers to Rokita as “Lyin’ Todd”.  Anyone else feeling sick yet?

The other thing the republican candidates fail to consider is that Trump did not actually win the election … Hillary Clinton won the popular vote by 2.8 million, even though Trump had help from the Russians, from gerrymandered districting, from social media, and from Jim Comey’s ‘October surprise’.  Were it not for the machinations of the electoral college, Trump would still be sitting in Trump Tower sucking his thumb and whining about how unfair it all was.

Don Blankenship, running on the republican ticket for U.S. Senator from West Virginia, says, “We don’t need to investigate our president. We need to arrest Hillary,” in one of his campaign ads.  Funny thing about that … Blankenship himself spent a year in prison, being released less than a year ago. Like his hero Trump, he also has almost no experience in government, but is a coal mine operator.  Think on that one for a minute … coal mine owner … senator … oh the opportunities for corruption! Interestingly, I have heard Blankenship referred to as “the most hated man in West Virginia”, as well as “the next Roy Moore”.  I may have to do a profile on this one …

In Tennessee, Marsha Blackburn, who is hoping to fill the seat being vacated by Bob Corker, brags about her ‘shooting skills’ and the gun that she keeps in her purse at all times, and then promises to “stand with Mr. Trump every step of the way to build that wall.”

So, one might think that if the republicans are going to push forth with the same messages of hate and violence that Trump did, democrats, being above all that, have yet another thing in their favour, yes?  But don’t jump too soon.  Democratic strategist Philippe Reines is advising democratic candidates to put away Michelle Obama’s slogan of “When they go low, we go high”, and instead get in the pig pen and slough around with the rest of the bunch.

“Trump never says, ‘I’m not dignifying that with an answer. He has no dignity. He leaves no attack unanswered. I spent 15 years recommending ignoring stupidity. ‘It has no legs. Don’t give it oxygen. There’s no pickup.’ I was wrong.”

My personal opinion is that no, Mr. Reines, you were not wrong, that at the end of the day, a strong platform coupled with grace, dignity, kindness and compassion win the race.  But am I right?  🤔

Republican political strategist, Frank Luntz, claims, “Today the goal is linguistic. We are no longer rewarding policy; we are rewarding rhetoric.”

That, my friends, is frightening.  It says that the voters don’t care about, don’t consider policies and platforms, but merely how the candidate speaks.  And the louder, the more brash, the more foul language and threats, the happier the voters are.  Have we really become such an ignorant, shallow nation?

Republican Josh Hawley, the Missouri attorney general who is running for Senate, has degrees from Yale and Stanford. He clerked for Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr.  One might expect him to be an intellectual, well-spoken, right?  Yet in a recent speech, he copied Trump almost word-for-word when he claimed there is a big conspiracy between Hollywood, Wall Street, and democrats to rig the system against the republicans.  Say what???

Mid-term elections typically cost the president’s party some seats in Congress, as people are finding the fatal flaws in the president and his policies.  I think that effect should be multiplied this year, as we are caught up in a tangled web of corruption and lies that center around the president.  But, am I wrong?  🤔  Are enough people still enamored of a ‘man’ who consistently lies, cheats and steals, a ‘man’ with a loud and vulgar mouth who cannot even string a few words into a coherent sentence?

Throughout Trump’s 2015-2016 campaign, he never once spoke of actual policies, but rather his ‘policy’ was verbalized in the form of a threat.  A threat to rid the nation of Muslims.  A threat to build a wall to keep our Mexican friends out.  A threat to roll back regulations that were protecting our environment.  A threat to pull out of the Iran deal, the international trade agreements, and the Paris Accords.  A threat to destroy the democratic values that we once held dear.  If the GOP candidates follow in Trump’s footsteps, they should not be able to compete successfully, for we have seen where Trump’s threats have led us.  But … am I wrong?  🤔